KARL MAYER manufactures its products on the markets where it is based, so that it is always in close contact with its customers - a successful strategy that this leading producer of warp knitting and warp preparation machines has been implementing for several decades on the basis of its well-thought-out location policy. So KARL MAYER has had a subsidiary in China since 1995. The first factory consisted of a production facility as well as a service centre. This was extended three years later and KARL MAYER (China) Ltd. was set up in December 2005. With the subsequent move into new, much-enlarged premises, which were built to European standards, KARL MAYER was once again highlighting its position as a supplier of high-quality products. The modern premises, which are located in a high-tech industrial zone, were opened at the beginning of 2008. They covered an area of about 55,000 m2, housed the facilities for producing warp knitting and warp preparation machines, and proved soon after to be insufficient. The first plans to extend KARL MAYER (China) Ltd. took root in August 2010, and the new facilities were opened on 17 June, the last day of the ShanghaiTex trade fair, when a celebration was held for customers, workers and management alike. An opening ceremony with all the right elements: The opening of the extended production building was incorporated into a customer event that was coordinated with the ShanghaiTex fair. A dinner was held on the evening before, i.e. on 16 June, for guests, the sales staff and representatives – and this was a good opportunity for them to get to know each other. The next day, all the people who had attended the event the previous evening met in the newly painted premises to view the technical facilities for the first time and to listen to the opening speeches. They were welcomed by the managing director, Fritz P. Mayer, the head of the Warp Preparation Business Unit, Roland Kohn, and the managing director of KARL MAYER (China) Ltd., Yang Zenxing. In their speeches, all the speakers stressed the importance of having strong production facilities in China in order to build up close and successful partnerships with textile manufacturers there. At the end of his speech, Yang Zenxing thanked the customers present for their cooperation, which has already proved fruitful, and for their loyalty to the company. But no opening ceremony would be complete without the lion dance, which traditionally symbolises good luck, fortune and strength. Following an ancient tradition, at the end of the artistic display, Fritz P. Mayer and Roland Kohn dotted the eyes of the two lions’ heads to symbolise bringing them to life. But just as obligatory was the cutting of the red ribbon. In addition to Fritz P. Mayer, Yang Zengxing and Roland Kohn.